The storyline begins in November , our Heroine Elizabeth Gilbert is in the Italian capital Rome, where she had spent almost 4 months trying to learn Italian language .

During her brief time there she had become friends with few people, with the handsome Giovanni her Exchange partner, and his twin brother Dario, who has a romantic relationship with Liz’s friend Sofia

 Liz has become more determined to learn how to enjoy the pleasures of life aside from guilt, by eating delicious food and practicing the beautiful language.

Gilbert realized that she isn’t done with men, because of her past relationships she felt heartbroken, but her wish to kiss Giovanni made her think otherwise, she felt alive and willing to fall in love again, as she tries to let us understand her way of thinking, she is not a hard-headed religious person, nor a broken introvert who keeps away from everyone, she’s is in the path to rearrange her life and make new choices, we feel through her writings that she is in control of her senses and doesn’t want to show any negative emotions about herself nor other people.

Chapter 4 begins with Gilbert remembering her night on the bathroom floor, the night when she asked God directly for the first time to guide her and show her the right way, The answer she received was short yet sufficient: “ Go back to bed, Liz” . It was an advice for her to take a rest in order to start over her new life. 

Less than a year later Liz leaves her husband and that doesn’t go smoothly because he isn’t cooperative in settling their issues, thus making things worse for her, and then she falls for another man, David, the seductive “street-smart” lover. Her friend Susan suddenly thinks that Gilbert is going to be in trouble because of his foul attitude. 

Things go well in her new relationship at first, she even meets her ex-husband after the 9/11 terrorist attack and share a moment of grief together, but she doesn’t want to go back to him. Soon her affair with David begins to fall apart. In the midst of her grief she turns more and more demanding, and slowly he becomes cold and “solitary as a castaway” .  Gilbert loses 30 pounds due to her breakdown and lack of sleep. She describes her mental condition as an addict who has no value for his life . 

During this hard and desperate time of her life, Gilbert tells us about three positive things that made her hopeful. First she began practicing yoga after meeting and Indian guru. Then she signed up for Italian language courses, a language that she had loved and adored for years.  The third was meeting a wise Indonesian medicinal man, who had invited Gilbert to travel to Indonesia and live with him there. 

Gilbert shows us that her mental condition during this turbulent period is a mixture of strength and feebleness at the same time.